Women’s Land Ownership and Relationship Power: A Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding Structural Inequities and Violence against Women

Citation:

Grabe, Shelly, Rose Grace Grose, and Anjali Dutt. 2015. “Women’s Land Ownership and Relationship Power: A Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding Structural Inequities and Violence against Women.” Psychology of Women Quarterly 39 (1): 7–19.

Authors: Shelly Grabe, Rose Grace Grose, Anjali Dutt

Abstract:

Violence against women is a widespread societal problem substantiated and perpetuated through inequities that operate within numerous levels of the society. Challenging and ending gender-based violence therefore requires addressing social structures that perpetuate gendered hierarchies and maintain women’s susceptibility to experiencing violence worldwide. The present study examines novel approaches taken by women in two different countries in the Global South, one in Nicaragua and another in Tanzania, to examine macro-level processes involved in land ownership in regions where owning land is a marker of dominance. Using data from 492 women, results from structural equation models and qualitative thematic analyses demonstrate significant links among women’s ownership of land, relationship power, and receipt of physical and psychological violence in both the countries. Collectively, the findings suggest that when women own land, they gain power within their relationships and are less likely to experience violence. Implications for theoretical conceptualizations of eradicating violence against women and practical interventions are discussed.

Keywords: Intimate partner violence, power, relationship quality, human rights, sexism, ownership, cross-cultural differences

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Rights, Human Rights, Land Rights Regions: Africa, East Africa, Americas, Central America Countries: Nicaragua, Tanzania

Year: 2015